Genentech Alongwith Other Drugmaker to Cough Up $67 Million in Settlement

Genentech, one of the largest drug makers in the United States and another drug maker have settled claims to the tune of $67 million for exaggerating the effects of their cancer drug which led to deaths. According to reports, the companies were perfectly aware of the fact that their cancer drug would not be effective on the patients at all but still marketed the drug to doctors in the hopes that they would recommend it and their sales would be boosted. Cancer patients would have been able to live for longer had they not been administered the drug, Tarceva, at the behest of the drug companies, who misled doctors. The lawsuit which was brought by one of Genentech's employees after he discovered the whole thing, stated, "Cancer patients only get one shot at first-line treatments and defendants took that opportunity away."

The LA Times stated in a report, "The lawsuit claimed that from 2006 to 2011 Genentech and its marketing partner OSI Pharmaceuticals promoted Tarceva to treat all patients with non-small-cell lung cancer even though studies had shown that it worked for just those who had never smoked or had a certain gene mutation known as EGFR. Epidermal growth factor receptor is a type of protein found on the surface of cells in the body.OSI of Melville, N.Y., was acquired by Japan's Astellas Pharma Inc. in 2010."

Brian Shields, a former sales representative for the drug, was the whistle blower in the case and brough the lawsuit under the False Claims Act. One of the most disturbing bits of information that came out of the lawsuit was the fact that it alleged that sales representatives of the company were given a huge budget to ensure that doctors prescribed their medicines by spending lavishly on them and it seems that kickbacks might have been involved. A Genentech spokesman named Andrew Villani said, "We believe our Tarceva promotional communications and practices were and are entirely proper and in compliance with the law,"